Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Rotten Tomatoes Score Breaks Top 5 Box Office Record


The Odyssey is a universally beloved Christopher Nolan movie, and it ranks higher than the fantasy epic’s box office competitors in one key metric, which could push it past an exciting milestone. Every Nolan movie is interesting to a degree. While not all of them might be beloved by critics and fans alike, the director is always trying to push the envelope.

That is why I firmly believe that many of Nolan’s releases are among the best movies of all time. Even those that were more divisive, such as Tenet and The Dark Knight Rises, made the trip to theaters to watch them worth it. Be it through achievements in sound, design, story, practical effects, cinematography, the cast’s performances, or else, Nolan’s movies always have an excitement to them.

That is why The Odyssey was projected to become a global hit from the moment it was announced. After all, this is one of the best directors of all time tackling one of the most influential pieces of literature of all time. The Odyssey is Nolan’s first fantasy epic, with the director taking on monsters, gods, and more, making them realistic.



















A Compendium of Enchanted Cinema
How Well Do You Know Fantasy Movies?
“Magic always comes with a price.”

🪄SpellsWingardium Leviosa

🐉BeastsHere be dragons

👑KingdomsLong live the king

QuestsThe hero’s journey

🔮MagicWhat lies ahead

01

Across the Harry Potter films, the boy wizard is rarely without his loyal companion — a snowy owl gifted to him by Hagrid on his eleventh birthday. What is the owl’s name?




✓ Correct! Hedwig — the snowy owl Harry receives in The Philosopher’s Stone — becomes one of his most beloved companions. Errol is the Weasleys’ ancient, accident-prone owl; Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny hyperactive owl; and Crookshanks is Hermione’s ginger cat — not an owl at all.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Hedwig. Errol is the Weasleys’ clumsy family owl, Pigwidgeon is Ron’s tiny owl from later books, and Crookshanks is Hermione’s cat. Hedwig is the snowy owl Hagrid buys Harry for his birthday — even getting her own leitmotif from composer John Williams.

02

In Rob Reiner’s 1987 cult classic The Princess Bride, the farm boy Westley answers Buttercup’s every demand with the same three words — which she comes to realize actually mean “I love you.” What does he say?




✓ Correct! “As you wish” is Westley’s signature line — and the film’s emotional core. “Inconceivable!” is Vizzini’s catchphrase (prompting Inigo’s famous “You keep using that word…”). The other two were never in William Goldman’s script — the whole point is that three plain words carry all the meaning.

✗ Not quite! The answer is “As you wish.” “Inconceivable!” belongs to the Sicilian Vizzini. Buttercup slowly realizes that Westley’s endlessly repeated “As you wish” is really his way of saying “I love you” — one of the most quoted lines in fantasy cinema.

03

The 2006 Spanish-language masterpiece Pan’s Labyrinth blends a fascist-era fairy tale with the grim reality of post-Civil War Spain, featuring the nightmarish Pale Man. Which director created this dark fantasy?




✓ Correct! Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed Pan’s Labyrinth, designing the Faun and the eyeless Pale Man himself. He’d later win Best Director and Best Picture for The Shape of Water. Cuarón directed Prisoner of Azkaban; Almodóvar is Spain’s great melodramatist; Rodriguez is del Toro’s close friend but made Sin City and Spy Kids.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Guillermo del Toro. Alfonso Cuarón (a fellow “Three Amigos” of Mexican cinema) directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Pedro Almodóvar makes Spanish melodramas, and Robert Rodriguez made Sin City. Del Toro’s creature designs in Pan’s Labyrinth are now iconic.

04

In The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), the four Pevensie children first stumble into the snowy land of Narnia by passing through what object?




✓ Correct! It’s a wardrobe — it’s right there in the title. Lucy hides inside during a game and finds the snow and lamppost of Narnia beyond the fur coats. A magical painting actually appears in the sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; the mirror and well are red herrings from other fantasy tales.

✗ Not quite! The answer is a wardrobe — literally named in the title. Lucy Pevensie pushes past the coats and steps out into snowy Narnia by the lamppost. (A magical painting does pull the children into the sea in the later film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — but not here.)

05

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) made Oscar history as the first fantasy film to win Best Picture, sweeping every category it was nominated in. How many Academy Awards did it take home?




✓ Correct! Return of the King won all 11 of its nominations — tying Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) for the all-time record, and becoming the first (and so far only) fantasy film to win Best Picture. Remarkably, it earned zero acting nominations yet still swept the board clean.

✗ Not quite! The answer is 11 — a perfect clean sweep. Return of the King tied Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most Oscar wins ever and broke fantasy’s long Best Picture drought. Fellowship of the Ring won 4 and The Two Towers won 2; the finale took everything it was nominated for.

06

In the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean films, Johnny Depp earned an Oscar nomination playing a swaggering, kohl-eyed pirate captain reportedly inspired by Keith Richards. What is the character’s name?




✓ Correct! Captain Jack Sparrow — Depp’s loose-limbed, rum-soaked performance earned a surprise Best Actor nomination for The Curse of the Black Pearl. Will Turner is the blacksmith hero (Orlando Bloom), Davy Jones is the tentacle-faced villain (Bill Nighy), and Hector Barbossa is the mutinous rival captain (Geoffrey Rush).

✗ Not quite! The answer is Captain Jack Sparrow. Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is the earnest blacksmith, Davy Jones (Bill Nighy) is the squid-faced sea villain, and Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) is the cursed rival. It was Depp’s Sparrow — modeled partly on Keith Richards — who earned the Oscar nod.

07

Jim Henson’s 1986 musical fantasy Labyrinth features a teenage Jennifer Connelly navigating a maze to rescue her baby brother from the flamboyant, wild-haired Goblin King Jareth. Which rock legend played Jareth?




✓ Correct! David Bowie played Jareth, writing and performing the film’s songs including “Magic Dance” and “As the World Falls Down.” Tim Curry famously played the demon Darkness in another Ridley Scott fantasy, Legend (also 1985-86). Jagger and Sting are rock icons but never donned Jareth’s glittering cape and wild wig.

✗ Not quite! The answer is David Bowie. Tim Curry played the towering devil Darkness in the rival fantasy Legend around the same time. Bowie not only starred as Jareth the Goblin King but composed and sang the soundtrack — “Magic Dance” remains the film’s signature number.

08

In the 1984 classic The NeverEnding Story, the young warrior Atreyu journeys across the dying realm of Fantasia and befriends a furry, dog-faced luckdragon who carries him through the skies. What is the luckdragon’s name?




✓ Correct! Falkor (Falkor the luckdragon) is the friendly, scale-and-fur covered dragon who aids Atreyu and Bastian. Artax is Atreyu’s horse, lost heartbreakingly in the Swamp of Sadness; Gmork is the wolf-like servant of The Nothing; and Bastian is the real-world boy reading the story who is ultimately drawn into it.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Falkor. Artax is Atreyu’s beloved horse (the Swamp of Sadness scene scarred a generation), Gmork is the menacing wolf-beast serving The Nothing, and Bastian is the bullied boy reading the book. Falkor is the soaring luckdragon — one of fantasy cinema’s most cherished creatures.

The Grimoire Closes · Quest Complete
Your Fantasy Rank

🔮

/ 8

Archmage of the Silver Screen — or still lost in the labyrinth?

The Odyssey is performing strongly at the box office, with the 2026 movie having the highest opening weekend for a Nolan release to date, with a $264.1 million worldwide total. That has positioned The Odyssey to fight for the year’s box office crown. Even though 2026 is crawling with hits, and more blockbusters are on the way, Nolan’s fantasy epic has something about its competitors.

2026’s Highest-Grossing Movies Have Mostly Earned Great Reviews

Yoshi peeking between Mario and Luigi while Toad looks on at Peach’s party in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
© Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection

So far, The Odyssey‘s direct competitors are The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Michael, Toy Story 5, The Devil Wears Prada 2, and Project Hail Mary, which are currently 2026’s top five highest-grossing movies worldwide. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Michael are nearly tied at the top of that list, with both of them slightly over the coveted $1 billion mark. The lowest of them is Ryan Gosling’s sci-fi masterpiece Project Hail Mary, at $683.9 million. Nearly all of those movies managed to become box office hits by landing well with both critics and viewers.

For instance, Project Hail Mary boasts a near-perfect 95% critics’ score and a matching audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Right above it on 2026’s highest-grossing movies list is The Devil Wears Prada 2 with a strong 78% critics’ score and a high 84% audience score. Another hit franchise also returned with a new release recently, as Toy Story 5 earned a stellar 92% critics’ score and a sky-high 95% critics’ score. The highest-grossing biopic of all time, Michael, was divisive, with a staggeringly low 38% critics’ score and a near-perfect 97% audience score. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie had a 42%/88% split.

How The Odyssey Defeats Its 2026 Competition

As can be seen, The Odyssey‘s direct competitors at 2026’s box office either earned rave reviews from critics and viewers alike or one or the other. That said, Nolan’s fantasy epic has surpassed all of them. At the time of writing, The Odyssey stands at a stellar 95% critics’ score and an even better 97% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Project Hail Mary is the only movie in the year’s top five thus far to come close to Nolan’s, but even though it matched The Odyssey‘s critics’ score, the more recent release ranked higher with moviegoers.

Nolan’s previous movie before The Odyssey was Oppenheimer, with the biopic finishing its global run at $975.8 million. Based on that film’s 5.61x multiplier (how much bigger its box office total was in comparison to its opening weekend), The Odyssey could end as high as $1.48 billion if it has the same legs Oppenheimer did. That amount would be more than enough to comfortably leave current 2026 box office leader The Super Mario Galaxy Movie behind. Given how The Odyssey is breaking Nolan’s all-time box office records already, I know who I am betting on.


the-odyssey-poster.jpg


Release Date

July 17, 2026

Runtime

172 Minutes




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